Acts 22:22–29 (ESV)
Paul and the Roman Tribune
22 Up to this word they listened to him. Then they raised their voices and said, “Away with such a fellow from the earth! For he should not be allowed to live.” 23 And
as they were shouting and throwing off their cloaks and flinging dust into the air, 24 the tribune ordered him to be brought into the barracks, saying that he should be examined by flogging, to find out why they were shouting
against him like this. 25 But when they had stretched him out for the whips, Paul said to the centurion who was standing by, “Is it lawful for you to flog a man who is a Roman citizen and uncondemned?” 26 When
the centurion heard this, he went to the tribune and said to him, “What are you about to do? For this man is a Roman citizen.” 27 So the tribune came and said to him, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?”
And he said, “Yes.” 28 The tribune answered, “I bought this citizenship for a large sum.” Paul said, “But I am a citizen by birth.” 29 So those who were about
to examine him withdrew from him immediately, and the tribune also was afraid, for he realized that Paul was a Roman citizen and that he had bound him.
Paul’s address does not avert the crowd’s
hatred. However, as a Roman citizen, he receives help from a Roman tribune. God established the governing authorities to bring a degree of peace and civil righteousness to our troubled world. However, our ultimate hope is in the Lord. Christ’s Gospel
brings eternal peace and righteousness before the highest court: heaven.
I pray: Lord Jesus, thank You for giving me righteousness before God. Teach me to forgive those who falsely accuse me. Help me also not to accuse anyone falsely.
Amen.
Edward A. Engelbrecht, The
Lutheran Study Bible (St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 2009), 1884.